Thursday, April 4, 2013

THE "BREAK-IN" (Or more accurately..."THE FLY-IN"): Tammy saves the day...

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!

MAXMOM here...

It’s common knowledge that crime in South Africa is rife. Every day there are new stories of attempted
robberies and house-breaking. Jittery
citizens are constantly on the alert. This includes me.

Well, we had a “break-in” today. Thankfully, I wasn’t home at the time, but
received a frantic phone-call from my husband’s office to tell me that the
panic button had been activated in our house and the security company was on
their way.

“Are you ok?” the ‘Boss’ sounded distressed.

“Sure,” I said. “I’m having tea with a friend. Thankfully, I’m not at home at the moment.”

“How far away are you?” his tone was urgent.

“Not far, but I’m on my way. Maybe you can ask the
security company to go into the property and check things out. But don’t worry, I’ll be there shortly!” I
reassured him.

“Let me know if everything is ok,” my friend shouted. I nodded, gave a brief wave and turned into
the main road. The trip home was nerve-racking. What was stolen? Who had broken in? Five minutes later I pulled into the driveway.

The security vehicle was parked outside on our pavement –
lights flashing - and the pedestrian gate was ajar. I parked and quickly locked
the car. The dogs were frantic and
running around wildly.

“Here ma’am!” I heard his call and I made my way around
the house to the back yard. There were glass shards everywhere. With his baton in his hand, the security
guard told me that the intruder had broken through the bedroom window. “He’s in the bedroom,” he said. “Maybe you
should go inside and see. Do you want me
to come with you?”

“Huh?”

He saw my confusion and gave a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, Ma’am,” he laughed. “It’s just a Hadedah Ibis! The bird flew right through your window. He’s inside, but really scared, so I don’t
want to go in myself – he might do even more damage.”

Hadedah Ibises are wild birds and not meant to be indoors. They are large and adorned with extra-strong, curved beaks that are meant to
be used for digging up grubs in the garden. This one was in our private
bedroom!

I quickly locked the dogs away and entered the house to
start my reconnaissance. I knew that the poor creature would be terrified, so I
grabbed a light blanket and made my way down the passage towards the main
bedroom.

A picture of Armageddon awaited me: Glass was strewn on the carpets and the poor
thing had, literally, sh*t himself! At
first I couldn’t see the bird, but then found him - cowering under my wing-back
chair, making strange hissing sounds as I approached.

I opened the blanket like a Spanish bull-fighter and
moved in. The bird backed into the
corner. Then with the agility of 007,
the creature darted through my legs, around our king-size bed, and made its way
desperately down the passage. (I’ve
always wondered why our feathered friends choose to walk when they are created
to fly.) What a funny sight – a desperate waddle down my passage by my newfound,
feathered friend.

With equal stamina, I tracked its jaunt. It arrived at the security gate in the
passage, took one look at it and made a right turn into my private ‘Den’. Oh no, I thought, I’ve just cleaned the place
out. But the bird was on its own mission
- to find a dark place to hide in – Pronto! It made its way straight for my open cupboard
– the darkest place in the room. Soon I was on my knees next to it and managed
to throw the blanket over the bird, wrap it up and gather it up under my arms. I stuffed it in my armpit like a set
bag-pipes and walked out of the house with haste. Whew!

For some reason these birds switch off their mental faculties
when in darkness, so it settled into an uneasy calm while inside the blanket. Once in the open sunshine again, I paused
and eased the blanket off, hoping to check if it had any injuries. The bird took one look at ‘daylight’ and
sensed freedom. The fluttering under my
arm was frantic and I acquiesced. With
a loud ‘KWEEEEEH!!!” our intruder took off amidst the frantic barking of my Golden
trio behind the gate.

I can only assume that it was our dear ‘Aunt Tam’ who was
catalyst to this adrenalin-filled event, (Tammy's entire life mission has been to catch one of these
creatures. She’s stalked them for years)
She must have taken it by surprise during it's leisurely breakfast at the back of our house, prompting it to launch itself at our bedroom
window. The responding siren from the
alarm must have sent it into an even more urgent frenzy. Unfortunately, however, it was
trapped.

So you see – ‘house breaking’ has definitely migrated to an
unusual section of our community - the large bird population in Johannesburg.Now I’m having to answer a number of awkward
questions from my friends; the most common of which is:

“Was anything taken during the break-in?”

Very funny! I can gladly report that nothing was stolen by my feathered friend,
but I’ve had to spend the entire afternoon vacuuming up glass and washing our carpets. For the time being, cardboard has replaced the missing glass pane - that task can wait for tomorrow. I
can only imagine the twitching noses and investigated efforts from my Golden trio when I grant them access later tonight.

Crime is certainly on the increase, but 12-year-old 'Aunt Tam' is making determined efforts to eradicate it! Thank you, Tammy!

I am so thankful you are safe, the bird is safe and minimal damage was done. I know you and the dogs must have been exhausted from the frenzy after all the excitement...the adrenaline rush alone would have done me in but you wrangled that bird.Well done.

Close call. You did a great job saving the scared bird. As for Miss Tammy, the mighty hunter. I suppose it's a good thing she scared the bird into your house. It would be awful to come home to a pile of feathers.

Howdy Caryl, what a surprise visitor. I wonder what your feathered friend would have done if she had not been found for some hours. Thank goodness she and your home were all ok (well except for the broken window!). A happy ending for you all. I was a bit worried when I first started to read that's for sure. Take care all. No worries, and love, Carol (and Stella and Rory)

MAXMOM....Did you miss me? {Okay, that was part of a Tony Stark/Iron Man line from "The Avengers". Very cocky and self-centered, actually!!} Well, I have appeared missing in action so to speak around everybody's Blogs lately. To complete my Secretive Writing Project. Well, I'm baaaack!! Did you miss me? Hee, hee, hee.... ;)I love your Header Picture!! ;)What a story!! You had me initially concerned, however, that some bad guy was actually in your house!! I am so glad that turned out untrue!! ;opLove, Raelyn.... Plus Rose, my BEAUTIFULLY UNIQUE "Mystery Dog"!!

We don't have birds coming through our windows but because I live on the edge of a golf course I have balls hitting the side of the building all the time. They make a terrific bang. So far I've been lucky, but several Christmases ago I had a neighbor who had a ball come through his window when it was incredibly cold.

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Hello there and welcome to

"LIVING LIFE TO THE MAX!".

This blog is about positivity and making the most of every day.I am a writer and author of "MAXDOG", as well as a homemaker. I share my home with my family and my two Golden Retrievers:

TOBY ("The Sprinkling of Maxdog") and

LEXI ("My little Sunbeam")

I am a deep thinker and am also passionate about my country. I believe in sharing, caring and uplifting - i.e. Passing on the blessings I receive. I try and do this through my writing - and hope to inspire you to also 'Live life to the Max'.Your feedback in important to me, so if this blog has touched you in some way, please share it with me. Feel free to write to me: carylmoll (at) yahoo (dot) com. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT...With love'MAXMOM IN SOUTH AFRICA"